The Social Archeology Channel

Sure, if you compare it to the technology introduced in recent years, the Fisher Price Movie Viewer looks pretty darn antiquated. But for a youngster growing up in 1973, the idea of being able to play your own movies on a handheld device, wherever and whenever you wanted, was cutting-edge stuff. Continue reading...

The best and quirkiest shows often start small and cheap, but what they lack in viewership or budget, they more than make up for with imagination and improvisation. Producer Sanford Fisher used a treasure trove of educational and entertaining film clips to capture the minds and hearts of a young 70s audience, via Marlo and the Magical Movie Machine. Continue reading...

It looked like an innocent little ball, nothing so special about that. But how many ordinary balls are made of a space-age sounding material called “Zectron”? And more importantly, how many balls have the ability to leap to staggering heights with a simple toss? Only one, the oft-imitated ball of legendary status, the little rubber sphere that managed to live up to its lofty name - the Super Ball! Finally, science put its efforts into something that everyone could enjoy. Continue reading...

Sure, Barbie had Ken and a few other assorted friends to pal around with. But Dawn, one of the many dolls to try its hand at competing with the blond icon, had a downright entourage of cohorts. This was one popular and remarkably groovy chick with a style all her own. Continue reading...

It’s a yellow circle with a wedge missing that goes around a maze eating dots and dodging ghosts. That, in a nutshell, is the most iconic and legendary video game ever to hit the arcade. Ask anyone with access to electricity to identify Pac-Man and they’ll get it right 99.999% of the time. Created by Toru Iwatani of Namco in 1980, the game had an inauspicious release in Japan but enjoyed a far better welcome in the United States (where it was distributed by Midway). Overtaking the popular Space Invaders, Pac-Man became a staple of arcades across the country and spawned a veritable media empire that is still thriving today. Continue reading...

The little sitcom that could and did become one of the most loved and iconic shows in TV history started with the simple story of a lone girl looking for a job in the city of Minneapolis. With clever writing and funny, well-developed characters, The Mary Tyler Moore Show moved into the hearts of American audiences and stayed for the duration. Continue reading...

Somewhere over the rainbow lies a land of munchkins, witches, wizards and more. MGM brought the magical land of Oz to Technicolor life through image and song in 1939's family classic, The Wizard of Oz. The story of L. Frank Baum's unlikely adventurers had been brought to the big screen twice before, but never with such vibrant life and imagination. Continue reading...

Popcorn has been around since the first Thanksgivings celebrated by this country, a gift from the Native Americans that we embraced then and still. A staple of movie theaters since the early 1900s, the snack followed Americans to their living rooms when television was introduced - and Jiffy Pop led the way, providing an easy and mesmerizing way to prepare the treat in one's own home. Continue reading...